Stapling apparatus



' Dec. 8, 1936. H. T. SCOTT 2,063,345

STAPLIRG APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 16, 1934 1935- H. T. SCOTT STAPLING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 16, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 u ,2? 77 L1 L1 35 5 Dire/afar 10.; 2/ I Dec. 8, 1936. H. T. SCQTT sTAPmNG APPARATUS Filed Oct. 16, 1934 5 SheetsShe et 3 Dec. 8, 1936. H. T. scoTT STAPLING APPARATUS Filed 0d. 16; 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Dec; 8, 1936 UNITED STATES: PATENT ornca Henry T. Scott, Toledo,

Bottle Company,

American Paper Ohio, asslgnor to The Toledo,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Applicationbctobcr 16,

g 1 3 Claims- The present invention relates chines and particularly to machines for fastening together .by means of staples a plurality of plies of sheet material, such as paper.

The stapling machine which comprises subject matter of the present ,changes in the design and arrangement of its component elements, be adapted for many different uses in the mechanical art but.

to be dispensed and the foldable extension at the open end or top thereof is closed by folding or collapsing the same along certain score lines originally impressed in the blank, to form a central transverse rib disposed in a vertical plane. This rib includes a plurality of Piles of impregnated paper and 'it isdesira ble that a staple be passed through these several plies to hold them securely together by mechanical means I and to insure that the container willnot openaccidentally, but only by design.

The several elements comprising the machine are therefore particularly designed for use in connection with paraflin impregnated fiber sheets and means is provided for in addition, heating all those portions of the stapling ma- 40 chine which lie adjacent when it is presented to the machine for thepur- )pose of stapling, this in order that any or .flakes of paramn which may be detached from the container rib and pass on to the operating 45 parts of the stapler shall not there solidify and freeze such parts. Ijleating of the stapling mechanisminthe manner specified, also enables the stapler to perform its function in a superior to stapling mainvention may, with minor it has 10 been primarily-designed'for the purpose of me- The original blanks are first erectsolid substance paraflin stapling to the container 'rib fragments manner upon a paraffin coated container, par- 50 ticularly one adapted to contain liquids.- Thus, the staplingwire which is fed to the stapling machine and from which the staples are formed is heated to a temperature at or near the melting point of paraiiin and hence, as the heated staple points pass through the container .rib, the paraf-- square in horizontal section,

' minates, at, its

- referring to the 1934, Serial No. 148,564

(CL 1-2) flu with which it comes the container by flowing outwardly along the surfacesof the staple prongs.

One.form of stapling mechanism constructedin accordance with the present invention .is set forth by way. of example in: the following description and is illustrated indetail in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure -1 is an'end elevation of the entire; mechanism;

Figure 2 isa side elevation of portion of the .Figure3isa planview; I Figure 4 is. a section on line H of Figure 3 to a somewhat larger scale;

, Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showmg certain of the operating parts in different. Positions? o Figure 6 is a section on line 6-8-of Figure 5; -Figures '1' and 8 are views generally similar to Figure 6 but showing certain of the operating parts in different positions; V Figures 9 and 10 are perspective --views, re spectively, of portions of the staple forming and applying mechanism;

Figures 11 and 12 are sections on line H-ll,

Figure 5 respectively; I z Figures 13 to 16 mo usive are similar sections a through the wire engaging portions of the sta- 1; Figure 18 is a section on 17; and

e 19 is a sectionon line I9 -l of'Figure 2. A paper bottle or container of the typewhich the stapling mechanism is particularly suited toline la-lgor Figure Q act upon is illustrated in chain lines in Figures 1, Y Y 2, and ,3, being indicated at C in these views. It comprises essentially a tubular memberof paper, and having a top the nature of a gable roof, which tertop in a transversely ex nding vertically disposed central rib C. This rib com prises five or six plies of stiff paper ly g in paral lel planes andby means of the improved stapler, these several plies are secured togethew First rather diagrammatic Figures 13 portion in liquid to escape from.

- Just described to place a container .0 with its mechanism generally pling machine, which enclosed is indicated at pended from the bridging member ID. Beneath to 16 inclusive, the functions of the stapling mechanism may be understood. ure 13 the rib C of the container is shown in chain lines and is positioned between a mechanism for forming a mechanism for these figures that portion lies to the right of the rib for shearing a length of a much longer piece, forming wire into the U-shaped staple indicated in dotted lines in Figure 14 and forcing the ends of this U- shaped piece through the rib as shown in Figure 15. That portion-of the mechanism which lies to the left of the rib C in these figures comof the mechanism which C comprises the means wire W from the end of this short length of prises the clinching or heading over mechanism by means of which the free ends of the staple wire which are projected through the rib are headed over or clinched. The resulting article is illustrated in Figure 16, the staple having been completely applied and its ends clinched and the container C being ready for removal from the staremoval may be effected after the staple applying mechanism has been retracted.

The greater portion of the stapling mechanism is supported upon a bridging member or frame I 0, the ends of which are rigidly connected to substantial portionsof a larger frame, for instance, .the frame of a complete automatic container fabricating, filling, closing and sealing machine, parts of this frame: being indicated'at F. The housing in which'the staple applying parts are H, and as shown is susthe housing are located the parallel container supportingrails |2 upon which the bottoms of the containers 0 rest as they are moved successively-into and out of position to be acted upon by the stapler, these containers C being gripped between gripping members |3 which members are in turn mounted upon a conveyor chain which is supported by and intermediate the parallel rails l2 and is driven with a step by step advancing movement by mechanism which is not illustrated. It will be appreciated that it is a function of the container supporting and conveying mechanism central upper rib between the jaws of the stapling machine, to maintain it in this position while the stapling operation is carried out and to there after remove the tute an unstapled container. The rails l2 together with the conveyor chain are vertically ad- Justable so that containers of various heights and capacities may be presented to the stapling jaws.

A coil of wire fromwhich suitable lengths may be fed into the stapling machine for the formation of the staples is indicated at I6, the free end of this wire being passed throughtthe guide l6 thence downwardly through the wire feeding indicated at F, thence through the guide I! and finally through an aperture l8 formed in the side wall of the housing I! which encloses the active stapling mechanism,

the feeding mechanism supplying such length of wire for each operation of the stapler that the end thereof extends transversely across this last mentioned housing,

inner wall of the-housing directly opposite the aperture l8, as shown in Figure 13. r In passing transversely through the interior of housing l3 the wire end W likewise passes through a notch 20 of a rocker member 2| lying in the notched face of a hardened formed in the end close proximity to Thus, in Figand advancing the staple and clinching the ends thereof. In

28 formed in these stapled container and substi-.

the end contacting with the 6 ing and shaping block 24 mounted thereon are caused to move forwardly toward the wire. Driver 23 comprises an elongated plate like member having the wire receiving groove 25 in its forward end and the block 24 is superposed upon the driver and adapted to have a limited sliding movement longitudinally thereof. Block 24 has downwardlyextending side portions embracing the sides of the driver and forwardly extending parallel arms 26 with notched end surfaces 21 and interior mutually facing wire receiving grooves 28. Upon the top of block 24 is secured, by means of a screw 29, a spring abutment block 30 and the head 3| of this screw lies within an elongated slot 32 formed in the driver, the relative longitudinal movements of block and driver being therefore limited to the distance which screw head 3| may travel in slot 32.

Secured to the top of the driver is a plate 33 The rocker member 2| is shown in Fighaving an upstanding fiange 3'4 and a lateral projection 35 to which the,- latch 36 is pivotally connected at 31. With the latch 36 positioned as shown in Figures 7 and 10, forward movement of the driver results in simultaneous forward movement of block 24 and this simultaneous movement of driver and block operation-of the device, until the cam arm of latch 36 contacts the stationary stud 4| secured to the housing. The mechanism is so designed, and the stud so-position'ed,

24 will move simultaneously forward or toward the wire W until the wire has been severed by the operation of that arm 26 of the shaping block is continued, in the ordinarythat driver 23 and block 24 which moves over the inn er end of the wire are caused to lie in grooves action of arms 26 and arms. At this point the latch 36 is swung laterally contact of its c amming arm 40 with c stud 4| so that movement of the driver- 23 11 longer necessarily results in forward movement of the shaping block 24. the shaping block are in contact with the rib, the .block will then remain stationary while the driver continues its forward movement, passing from the the rib c' and beiii slightly deflected upon the farside of the rib the flange. 34 movable As the ends 21 of the arms ofthe staple being driven through x slidably extends through flange 34.

1 of the driver is derived ly elongated aperture 54' adjustment of arm determined by thelength of slot 54'. bealso lateral adjustment of arm spect' to stud The diameter Eventually screw head 3| contacts with the rear end of slot 32 and are again positively connected for forward movement, so acting together as to bear, as a unit, against the entire cerftral portion of the rib of the container and to exert a final pressure. After insertion of the staple, the driver 23 will be retracted and in its retracting movement the forming block will remain stationary until the end of slot 32 contacts with screw head 3|, spring 44 expanding meanwhile, and the parts again assuming the relative positions in which they are shown in Figure 10. During the rearward movement of the driver the inclined cam surfaces 38' formed on bracket 33 contact with the ends 2| of rocker 2|, thus moving this rocker in a counterclockwise direction and resetting the rocker in the position in which it is shown in Figure 5. During this rearward movementof the driver also, the latch 66, the lower face of which frictionally engages the floor of the housing, turns into its locking position, as shown in Fig. '7, the cam arm 46 having disengaged the lug 4|. The grooves 26 formed in arms 26 within which the forwardly extending arms of the staple lie naturally support these arms as the staple is forced through the paper rib C and crumpling of the staple thereby prevented.

.Power for effecting reciprocatory movements from uniformly rotating shaft 56 suitably supported in bearings mounted upon the frame F. Upon this shaft is mounted a cam having a cam path 52. Lying within this cam path is a roller 53 mounted upon an arm 54. Ann 54 is parallel to and lies immediately infront of (Figure 2) an' arm 55, the lower end. of which is rotatably supported upon a fixed stud 56, a sleeve like projection 55' from this arm, encircling the stud, projecting into a longitudinalformed in the lower end of arm 54. The outer diameter of sleeve 55' isapproximately the same as the width of slot the arm and sleeve therefor having no relative movement horizontally (Figure 19) the arm 54 being adjustable vertically through a distance de- 54 the arm 54 may be positioned as desired relatively to sleeve 55' within the limits of slot 54'. is provided with a cylindrical through which extends the stud 51 secured to arm 54 and which supports roller 53. Upon the upper end of arm 55 is formed a circular undercut groove within which is slidably retained the circular rack 56, this rack being normally retained in fixed position in the slot by means of spring pressed detent 56. This detent will be automatically depressed to inoperative posi n should the stapling mechanism become jammed from any cause, thus breaking the driving connectionbetween this mechanism and drive shaft 56.

I of aperture 55 is at-least sufflciently great to provide as much space. for adjustment of stud 51 therein as there is room for 64 relatively to sleeve 55', as There may 55 with re- 51 and arm 54. The teeth-of rack those of rack 6| slidably moimted housing and towhich the driver 56 mesh with in the stapler 23 is secured.

By the means just described, it is possible to vary the travel of rack 6|, lowering of the iever driver and forming block 24 against the action .the end of locking lever At its upper end, arm 55 aperture 55 withdrawal of locking lever of the rockinglev'er.

54 resulting in increased rack travel and raisin of this lever causing decreased rack travel, as will be obvious. Adjusting screws 66 may be manipulated to rock arm 55, relatively to arm 54, about the axis of stud 56, and to maintain these arms in desired angular relationship. By such manipulation of screws 66 the position of rack 6| and driver 23 may be adjusted relatively to cam roller 53 and hence to the stapler housing andother parts. I

The clinching members 42 are shaped as shown in Figures 6, l2, and 13 to 16. There are hardened steel elements, pivotally mounted to rock about parallel axes 62 and normally urged to the positions in which they are shown in Fi ure 6 by spring pressed plungers 63 so that the inner ends of these clinching elements are in contact with the lower end of a rocker 64 pivotally mounted upon' a horizontally extending arbor 65. The upper end of rocker 64 lies in the path of.movement of the forward end of a plunger or ram 66, slidably supported in the housing and extending in a direction parallel to the path of movement of the driver 23. Normally this plunger or ram 66 is urged forwardly so as to strike rocker 64, by means ofra spring 51', one end of which rests against a collar68 secured to the plunger and the opposite end -of which rests against a stationary part6! of the housing. At its rear end, plunger 66 is pro Nut 16 is agapted to be rear end of a latching member 1| pivotally mounted at 12 upon the housing and which is vlded with a nut 16. engaged by the extreme (Figure 6) by a compression spring 13 so as to move into locking engagement with nut 16 whenever nut 16 is moved beyond theend of locking lever ll. Rearward movement of plunger 66 by the driver operating mechanism, the bracket 15 secured to rack 6| having spaced upstanding portions which pass upwardly on opposite sides of locking lever" and plunger 66 and into position to engage the forward end of nut ll. It will be readily seen that movementof the rack of spring 61 is brought about 6| and driver 23 to the right (Figure 5) will cause engagement of bracket 15, with nut "ll hence, of

simultaneous movement of plunger 66 in the same direction or until nut 16 has passed beyond II and the lever has been operated by the spring I! to engage the nutl Release of plunger 66 can only be effected by II from co act with nut I6 and this is effected, atthe proper ime in the forward movement of the driver hich is after the staple has been driven throu h the rib C' as shown in Figure 15) by'the engagement of the head of screw 16 with the depending arm 11 As soon as this. engagement occurs, the locking lever is rotated in a clockwise direction, plunger 66 is allo ed to move suddenly forward under the influence of spring 61 to strike the upper end of the rocker 64 and to cause this to rock suddenly in a counterclockwise direction and to cause the'two clinching members 42 to I rock about their pivotal axes from the. position in 16 is engaged by bracket 15 upon the returning movement of the driver 23 and rack 6|. By manipulating the screw 16 the time of release of the nut 16 is disengaged and the plunger 66 may be varied with relationship to the operations of the staple applying mechanism.

The wire feeding mechanism is designed and constructed to feed, into the stapling mechanism, 5 the proper amount of wire and at the proper times. Wire passing through the guide tube I6 and through a boss 80 rigid with the frame passes vertically downwardly, after issuing from the bottom of the boss and along the vertically disposed 0 face of a hardened steel guiding member 8|. Po-

sitioned opposite guide 8| is a toothed locking pawl 82 normally urged by a spring into the position shown in- Figure 1 in which position its serrated end engages the wire and prevents upward or return movement of the wire while at the same time freely permitting downward movement. Positioned adjacent the lower end of the guiding member 8| and just above the upper end of the guide tube I! are the rotatable wire feeding disks 83 and 84, these disks being disposed in the same vertical plane (which also includes the wire) and being mounted to rotate about parallel axes. Each of the disks includes a peripheral raised portion, these portions being indicated at 83 and 84 and it is the cylindrical edge surfaces of the raised portions 83' and 84' which engage the opposite sides of the wire as the disks are rotated in the directions of the arrows (Figure 1),

the wire being pinched betweensuch surfaces and fed downwardly so long as both surfaces are in contact therewith and the disks are rotating. The

wire engaging surface of either portion 83' or 84',

or both, may be roughened to ensure against slippage. The disks 83 and 84 are driven at the same angular velocities and normally cooperate in feeding equal lengths of wire forwardly for each complete revolution thereof. Disk 84 isfixed on its supporting shaft 85 but disk 83 is so mounted upon shaft 86 that its angular position on the shaft may be varied as desired. By varying the angular position of disk 83 upon its shaft the length of the raised portion cooperates with the raised portion 84' of disk 84 may be varied as desired and hence the amount of wire fed for each operation of the disks in conjunction regulated.

Shaft 85 is mounted in frame I0 and shaft 86 is mounted in a rocking bracket or frame 81 which is pivotally supported bystud 88, which extends through its lower end, so as to be rockable in a plane parallel to the plane of the feeding disks 83 and 84. At its upper end the rocking frame 81 is apertured and through this aperture extends a threaded stud 90 having'a nut 9| thereon which comprises the outer abutment for a coiled compression spring 92 by means of which the upper end of the rocking frame is normally maintained in contact with a portion of the stationary frame. Shafts 86 and 85 have fixed thereon respectively 0 driving gears 94 and 95, it being the function of these gears to transmit the rotary motion of shaft /85 to shaft 86. Shaft 85 is driven at uniform drive shaft 50, gearing including a spiral gear 95 5'fixed on shaft 50, intermediate spiral gear 91 and spiral gear 98 fixed on shaft 85, transmitting this rotary motion. It will be obvious that so long as shaft 50 is rotating, the feeding disks 83 and 84 will function to feed equal lengths of 70 wire to the stapling mechanism.

. As it sometimes occurs during the operation of the automatic machine of which this mechanism comprises a portion, that no bottle is properly presented to the stapling mechanism, while at 75 the same time the stapling mechanism continues 83' thereof which to be driven, it is desirable to provide means for preventing the feeding of wire, and for preventing the operation of the clinching mechanism, whenever the conveyor fails to present a container to be stapled; to avoid clogging of the 5 stapler mechanism with wire and injury to the clinching elements 42. This safety mechanism includes a bottle detecting finger I00 mounted upon a bell crank lever IOI, which lever is pivotally supported upon a bracket connected to the 10 outer conveyor rail I2 so that it may rock in a horizontal plane. The finger I00 is engaged by a bottle moving into position to be stapled and is moved outwardly thereby to the position in which it is shown in full lines in Figure 3. When 15 no bottle is presented, it occupies the position in which it is shown in dotted lines in this figure. To the outer arm I02 of the bell crank lever is pivotally connected one end of a link I 03 which extends rearwardly of the machine in a diagonal 20 direction and has its opposite end pivotally connected to an arm I04 fixed upon the lower end of a shaft I 05. Shaft I 05 is suitably supported in a bracket I06 at its lower end and a bracket I0I at its uppfir end, bracket I06 being connected 2 to the inner conveyor rail I2, and bracket I 01 to theframe I0. 0

The upper end of shaft I05 is squared and passes through a squared opening in anoperating lever I08. The left hand end of this operat- 30 mg lever (Figure 3) is bifurcated and the spaced ends- 0f the arms thereof carry rollers which lie within an annular slot- I09 formed in a sleeve IIO mounted upon shaft 85 in such manner as to be freely slidable longitudinally thereof. A collar 35 fixed on shaft 85 is indicated at III and a coiled spring II2 interposed between fixed collar III and sleeve I I0 normally urges this sleeve from the position in which it is shown in full lines in Fig ure 3 to the position in which it is shown in dotted 0 lines.

When sleeve IIO occupies the dotted line position just referred to, its forward end lies in the path of movement of a cam member II3 fixed on gear 94 and hence will be engaged by the raised 45 portion II3 of this cam (Figure 18) when gear 94 reaches a certain predetermined point in its rotation. Naturally the engagement of the cam portion 3' with sleeve IIO will cause rocking motion of the rocking frame about its pivot 88 and 5 against the action of spring 92, thus separating the wire feeding disks 83 and 84 so that these disks cannot cooperate with each other during the time that cam portion 3' is in contact with (sleeve I'I0. As normally the spring II2 tends to 55 move 'sleeve IIO into the position to effect separation of the wire feeding disks, and to also move through the linkage described, the detector finger I00 to its dotted line position (Figure 3) the wire feeding mechanism may be said to be normally inoperative. It is only when the detector finger I00. is moved outwardly due to the presence of a container properly positioned with respect to the stapling mechanism that the sleeve I I0 is positively moved rearwardly against the action of spring II 2 and out of the path of cam I I3, the wire feeding mechanism being operative only so long as this condition exists.

The presence or absence of a container likewise is determinative of the operation of the plunger' 66. It will be seen in Figure 3 that the arm I08 has an extension M8 on the opposite side of the shaft I05 from sleeve I I0. To this arm is connected by means of a link II 9 the upwardly exof a latching member I2I pivotv tending arm I20 ally mounted upon a stud I22 rotatably supported in the frame. The extreme end of latching member I'M is adapted to fall into the path of movement of nut 10 of plunger 65, when the plunger and nut are at their rearmost positions. As a matter of fact, this is the normal position of latch 52! and hence the plunger 66 may not move forwardly unless this latch, as well as latch II, has been moved to releasing position. By means of the bottle detecting mechanism previously referred to, which operates shaft 15 and lever I08 when the bottle is present, the latch i2! is lifted and the plunger allowed to operate whenever a container is present.

A steam conduit is indicated at H5 and inlet and outlet conduits therefor at 526 and m. By passing steam through these conduits while the mechanism is functioning, all of the parts are maintained at a temperature equal to or higher than that at which parafiin melts. The wire staple itself is raised to such a-ternperature prior to the time that it is forced into the paper rib of the container. Hence, any parafiln which is scraped ofi or which breaks oil of the container rib and which passes on to the operating parts of the machine cannot solidify and clog the machine but on the other hand will remain liquid and will eventually escape. Furthermore, the action of the heated parts upon the container rib itself is beneficial, the paraffin being caused to flow under pressure and to occupy all cracks or apertures for the possible escape of liquid from the container. The staple, after having been inserted, firmly holds the several plys of the rib together and during the hardening of the paramn after the nation, wire feeding'means, staple above the temperature at stapled container has been removed from the stapling unit.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: 5

l. A stapling mechanism comprising in combiforming and advancing means, staple end clinching means and mechanism for rendering the clinching means inoperative in the absence of an article to be stapled intermediate the staple forming and advancing means and the clinching means without modifying the action of the staple forming and advancing means.-

2. A stapling mechanism comprising in combination, driving means, wire feeding means, staple forming and advancing means, staple end clinching means and mechanism for rendering both the wire feeding and clinching means inoperative in the absence of an article to be stapled intermediate the staple forming and advancing means and the clinching means without interrupting the operation of the driving means.

3. The method of securing the multi-ply closure rib of a container fabricated of paraflin coated paper in the fabrication of a leak proof package for liquids, which comprises heating a staple to or 7 which paraffin melts, passing the staple into said rib while so heated, and thereafter permitting the same to cool and the parafin melted thereby to solidify around the staple, thus effecting a leak proof seal between paper and staple.

HENRY T. SCOTT. 

